Mates of State’s Jason Hammel on football

You’d think that the drummer for one of the most acclaimed indie-rock acts of the 2000’s would quickly answer “uh, no.”

But if you’re thinking Jason Hammel of Mates of State, you’d be wrong.

“Football? I played football in high school,” Hammel says. “I was actually captain of the varsity my senior year. I watch the Vikings [he grew up in Minnesota]. I don’t have that kind of pride that some guys or musicians do, like, ‘I don’t like sports, dude, I’m a rock ‘n’ roller.’ I don’t like that s—. It’s silly to limit yourself, to limit your interests. Yeah, I played tight end and defensive end.”

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